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Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-RFK-01
In this interview Robert F. Kennedy [RFK] discusses beginning John F. Kennedy's [JFK] presidential Administration with no political obligations; carefully picking Cabinet members, specifically Secretaries of State, Defense, and Treasury; RFK’s decision on what role to play in JFK’s Administration; JFK’s unhappiness with Dean Rusk as Secretary of State; JFK’s advisers and other presidential appointments; Cabinet meetings; Department of Justice organization under RFK; the first 100 days of the Kennedy Administration; the role of the Vice President, according to RFK; JFK’s relationship with Lyndon B. Johnson and why JFK put Johnson on the ticket in 1960; what JFK was most concerned with as President; domestic programs versus foreign affairs in the Kennedy Administration; Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.’s role during JFK’s presidency; the Bay of Pigs, the aftermath, and its effect on JFK; how JFK approached problems as President; dealing with Georgi Bolshakov; negotiating with the Soviet Union in Vienna, over Laos and Cuba, etc.; JFK’s relationship with foreign heads of state; State Department staff and U.S. Ambassadors; the military coup in Vietnam; the Berlin crisis of the summer of 1961 and the Berlin Wall; RFK’s 1961 trip to the Ivory Coast; and Soviet and American nuclear testing, among other issues.
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-09-11-D
ST13, KN22
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-09-11-C
ST13, KN22
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-12-27-B
ST18
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-04-14-C
KN15
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-04-13-C
KN15
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-01-03-A
ST08
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C23699
President John F. Kennedy (wearing sunglasses) views models of the Titan II and Titan III missiles, during a tour of the Titan Launch Complex at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Cape Canaveral, Florida; Director of Range Safety Operations with the Eastern Test Range at Patrick Air Force Base, Colonel Dan F. Thompson (center right, in foreground), briefs President Kennedy. Also pictured: Senator Alexander Wiley (Wisconsin); Director of Defense Research and Engineering for the Department of Defense, Dr. Harold Brown; Secretary of the Air Force, Eugene M. Zuckert; Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Paul Nitze; Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Minister of Defence of Great Britain, Peter Thorneycroft; Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. James E. Webb; Director of NASA's Launch Operations Center, Dr. Kurt H. Debus; Manager of Florida Operations for the Manned Spacecraft Center, G. Merritt Preston; White House Secret Service agents, Rufus Youngblood, Ron Pontius, and Gerald A. “Jerry” Behn. President Kennedy visited Cape Canaveral as part of a two-day inspection tour of NASA field installations.
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White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C23698
President John F. Kennedy (wearing sunglasses) tours the Titan Launch Complex at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Cape Canaveral, Florida. Director of Range Safety Operations with the Eastern Test Range at Patrick Air Force Base, Colonel Dan F. Thompson (center right, back to camera), briefs President Kennedy; models of the Titan II and Titan III missiles sit on table in foreground. Also pictured: Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. James E. Webb; Director of NASA's Launch Operations Center, Dr. Kurt H. Debus; Manager of Florida Operations for the Manned Spacecraft Center, G. Merritt Preston; White House Secret Service agent, Gerald A. “Jerry” Behn. President Kennedy visited Cape Canaveral as part of a two-day inspection tour of NASA field installations.
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White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C23696
President John F. Kennedy (center right, in foreground) tours the Titan Launch Complex at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Cape Canaveral, Florida; a Titan II Air Force rocket sits on launch pad in background. Also pictured: Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Secretary of the Air Force, Eugene M. Zuckert; Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara; Associate Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr.; Manager of Florida Operations for the Manned Spacecraft Center, G. Merritt Preston; Representative Victor L. Anfuso (New York); chief scientific adviser to the Ministry of Defence of Great Britain, Sir Solly Zuckerman; Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Dr. Jerome B. Wiesner; Director of the Bureau of the Budget, David E. Bell; White House Secret Service agents, Bill Greer, Rufus Youngblood, Gerald A. “Jerry” Behn, Ron Pontius, Bill Duncan, and Toby Chandler. Site workers observe in background. President Kennedy visited Cape Canaveral as part of a two-day inspection tour of NASA field installations. [Discoloration along top edge of image is original to the negative.]
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White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C23692
President John F. Kennedy (right) walks toward the presidential limousine outside the blockhouse at Launch Complex 34, following a briefing of the manned lunar landing program during a tour of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Cape Canaveral, Florida. Also pictured: Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Launch Operations Center, Dr. Kurt H. Debus; Commander of the Air Force Missile Test Center, Major General Leighton I. Davis; White House Press Secretary, Pierre Salinger; Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara; Minister of Defence of Great Britain, Peter Thorneycroft; Military Aide to the President, General Chester V. Clifton; Secretary of the Army, Cyrus R. Vance; Administrator of NASA, Dr. James E. Webb; White House Secret Service agents, Bill Greer, Gerald A. “Jerry” Behn, Roy Kellerman, Dave Grant, Toby Chandler, Ron Pontius, Bill Duncan, and Dick Johnsen. President Kennedy visited Cape Canaveral as part of a two-day inspection tour of NASA field installations. [Blemish in upper right portion of image is original to the negative.]
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White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C23628
President John F. Kennedy visits with astronaut Commander Walter M. Schirra, during a tour of the Mercury-Atlas Launch Complex at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Cape Canaveral, Florida. Left to right: Manager of Florida Operations for the Manned Spacecraft Center, G. Merritt Preston (mostly out of frame); Director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Launch Operations Center, Dr. Kurt H. Debus; Associate Administrator of NASA, Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr.; President Kennedy; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Director of the Bureau of the Budget, David E. Bell; Minister of Defence of Great Britain, Peter Thorneycroft (partially hidden); Commander Schirra; unidentified; Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara; Administrator of NASA, Dr. James E. Webb (partially out of frame). The President visited Cape Canaveral as part of a two-day inspection tour of NASA field installations.
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White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C23678
President John F. Kennedy (right, facing away) views Saturn engine displays, during a tour of the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) at Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama; Director of the MSFC, Dr. Wernher von Braun (partially hidden, with arm raised), briefs President Kennedy. Also pictured: Representative Albert Thomas (Texas); Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Paul Nitze; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Associate Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr.; Naval Aide to the President, Captain Tazewell T. Shepard, Jr.; Administrator of NASA, Dr. James E. Webb; Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara; Representative George P. Miller (California). The President visited the MSFC as part of a two-day inspection tour of NASA field installations.
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White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C21152
President John F. Kennedy (center right, wearing sunglasses), Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shahanshah of Iran (left of President Kennedy, wearing sunglasses), and other distinguished guests watch a demonstration of United States Navy and Marine Corps amphibious landing operations at Onslow Beach from Riseley Pier, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The Shahanshah, in the United States on a state visit, joined the President in North Carolina to inspect the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. Seated in the reviewing stand, first row (L-R): Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara (looking through binoculars); Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; the Shahanshah; the President; Commandant of the United States Marine Corps General David M. Shoup; and Congressman Carl Vinson (Georgia). Those seated in the second row include (L-R): Foreign Minister of Iran Abbas Aram; Chief of Naval Operations Admiral George W. Anderson, Jr.; Admiral Robert L. Dennison, Commander in Chief of the Atlantic Command (CINCLANT), Commander in Chief of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, and Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic (SACLANT); and Chief of Staff of the United States Army General George H. Decker. Naval Aide to the President Captain Tazewell Shepard, Jr. (bottom left, wearing sunglasses) sits in front of the reviewing stand.
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White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C21145
President John F. Kennedy (center right, wearing sunglasses), Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shahanshah of Iran (left of President Kennedy, wearing sunglasses), and other distinguished guests watch a demonstration of United States Navy and Marine Corps amphibious landing operations at Onslow Beach from Riseley Pier, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The Shahanshah, in the United States on a state visit, joined the President in North Carolina to inspect the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. Seated in the reviewing stand, first row (L-R): unidentified; Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara (looking through binoculars); Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson (partially hidden, looking through binoculars); the Shahanshah; the President; Commandant of the United States Marine Corps General David M. Shoup (facing away); and Congressman Carl Vinson (Georgia). Those seated in the second row include (L-R): Chief of Naval Operations Admiral George W. Anderson, Jr.; Admiral Robert L. Dennison, Commander in Chief of the Atlantic Command (CINCLANT), Commander in Chief of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, and Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic (SACLANT); and Chief of Staff of the United States Army General George H. Decker. Seated in front of the reviewing stand are (L-R) an unidentified foreign military officer; Naval Aide to the President Captain Tazewell Shepard, Jr. (wearing sunglasses); Vice Admiral Alfred G. Ward, Commander, Amphibious Force, Atlantic; and Lieutenant General Robert B. Luckey, Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic (partially hidden on far edge of image).
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White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C21123-C
Standing on the reviewing platform in front of Air Force One, President John F. Kennedy (left, holding hat) and Admiral Robert L. Dennison, Commander in Chief of the Atlantic Command (CINCLANT), Commander in Chief of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, and Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic (SACLANT), face U.S. military honor guard troops (not pictured) during arrival ceremonies at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Those standing behind the platform include (L-R): Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara; Secretary of the Navy Fred Korth; Senator A. Willis Robertson (Virginia); Senator Harry Flood Byrd (Virginia); Naval Aide to the President Captain Tazewell Shepard, Jr.; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Assistant Secretary of the Treasury James A. Reed; Special Assistant to the President for National Security McGeorge Bundy; Senator Leverett Saltonstall (Massachusetts); Director of the Bureau of the Budget David E. Bell; and Senator Robert S. Kerr (Oklahoma). President Kennedy traveled to Virginia to begin a two-day visit to the U.S. Atlantic Fleet.
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White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-A16-44-62
President John F. Kennedy (lower left, with back to camera) views the Saturn C-1 rocket, during a tour of the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) at Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama; Director of the MSFC, Dr. Wernher von Braun (back to camera), briefs President Kennedy. Also pictured: Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. James E. Webb; Representative Robert E. Jones (Alabama); Associate Administrator of NASA, Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr.; Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara; Senator Alexander Wiley (Wisconsin); Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Dr. Jerome B. Wiesner; Naval Aide to the President, Captain Tazewell T. Shepard, Jr.; Director of the Bureau of the Budget, David E. Bell; Director of Defense Research and Engineering for the Department of Defense, Dr. Harold Brown; Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Paul Nitze; Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and Vice Chairman of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, Dr. Leonard Carmichael; Secretary of the Air Force, Eugene M. Zuckert; Air Force Aide to the President, Brigadier General Godfrey T. McHugh; Military Aide to the President, General Chester V. Clifton; White House Press Secretary, Pierre Salinger; Secretary of the Army, Cyrus R. Vance; White House Secret Service agents, Gerald A. “Jerry” Behn, Roy Kellerman, Toby Chandler, and Dave Grant. Photographers and members of the press stand at right in foreground. The President visited the MSFC as part of a two-day inspection tour of NASA field installations.
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White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-A16-41-62
President John F. Kennedy tours the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) at Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama; Director of the MSFC, Dr. Wernher von Braun, walks left of President Kennedy. Also pictured: Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. James E. Webb; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Associate Administrator of NASA, Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr.; Senator Alexander Wiley (Wisconsin); Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara; Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Paul Nitze; Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Dr. Jerome B. Wiesner; Military Aide to the President, General Chester V. Clifton; Naval Aide to the President, Captain Tazewell T. Shepard, Jr.; Air Force Aide to the President, Brigadier General Godfrey T. McHugh; Secretary of the Air Force, Eugene M. Zuckert; Director of Defense Research and Engineering for the Department of Defense, Dr. Harold Brown; Minister of Defence of Great Britain, Peter Thorneycroft; Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and Vice Chairman of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, Dr. Leonard Carmichael; Secretary of the Army, Cyrus R. Vance; Special Assistant to the President, Dave Powers; Representative Albert Thomas (Texas); Director of the Bureau of the Budget, David E. Bell; White House Secret Service agents, Gerald A. “Jerry” Behn and Roy Kellerman. Photographers and members of the press observe at right. The President visited the MSFC as part of a two-day inspection tour of NASA field installations.
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White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-A16-40-62
President John F. Kennedy tours the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) at Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama; Director of the MSFC, Dr. Wernher von Braun, walks left of President Kennedy. Walking behind: Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. James E. Webb; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Associate Administrator of NASA, Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr.; Senator Alexander Wiley (Wisconsin); Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara; Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Paul Nitze; White House Secret Service agent, Gerald A. “Jerry” Behn. The President visited the MSFC as part of a two-day inspection tour of NASA field installations.
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White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-289-13-61
President John F. Kennedy meets with administration officials. (L-R) Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; President Kennedy; Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara; Military advisor to the President General Maxwell Taylor; Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell Gilpatric. Palm Beach, Florida.
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White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-A16-18-62
President John F. Kennedy visits with astronaut Commander Walter M. Schirra (back to camera), during a tour of the Mercury-Atlas Launch Complex at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Cape Canaveral, Florida. Left to right (in foreground): Manager of Florida Operations for the Manned Spacecraft Center, G. Merritt Preston (head bowed); Director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Launch Operations Center, Dr. Kurt H. Debus; President Kennedy; Associate Administrator of NASA, Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr. (in back); Commander Schirra; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson (mostly hidden); Minister of Defence of Great Britain, Peter Thorneycroft (partially hidden); Administrator of NASA, Dr. James E. Webb (back to camera); Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara. Also pictured: White House Secret Service agents, Roy Kellerman and Gerald A. “Jerry” Behn. The President visited Cape Canaveral as part of a two-day inspection tour of NASA field installations.
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White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-A41-1-62
President John F. Kennedy meets with administration officials. (L-R) Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; President Kennedy; Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara; Military advisor to the President General Maxwell Taylor; Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell Gilpatric. Palm Beach, Florida.
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White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C23670
President John F. Kennedy (holding hat) stands with Commanding General of the U.S. Army Missile Command, Major General Francis J. McMorrow (saluting), upon arrival at Redstone Army Airfield, Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama. Standing behind President Kennedy at left: Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Representative George P. Miller (California); Associate Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr.; Senator Alexander Wiley (Wisconsin). Standing in group at right: Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara; White House Press Secretary, Pierre Salinger; Special Assistants to the President, Dave Powers and Kenneth P. O’Donnell. Air Force One sits in background. The President traveled to Huntsville as part of a two-day inspection tour of NASA field installations.
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White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-A16-12-62
President John F. Kennedy walks with Commanding General of the U.S. Army Missile Command, Major General Francis J. McMorrow (right), following a tour of the U.S. Army Missile Command Guidance and Control Laboratory at Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama. Also pictured: Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara; Minister of Defence of Great Britain, Peter Thorneycroft; Secretary of the Air Force, Eugene M. Zuckert; Director of the Bureau of the Budget, David E. Bell; White House Secret Service agent, Gerald A. “Jerry” Behn. President Kennedy visited Redstone Arsenal as part of a two-day inspection tour of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) field installations.
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White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-C73-4-62
President John F. Kennedy meets with the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and others at the residence of C. Michael Paul in Palm Beach, Florida. Seated at table (clockwise from top): President Kennedy; Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara; Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral George W. Anderson, Jr.; Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, General David M. Shoup; unidentified (back to camera); former Chief of Staff of the United States Army, General George H. Decker; former Chairman of the JCS, General Lyman L. Lemnitzer; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. [Notes: Scratches on right hand side of image are original to the negative.]